With recent technological innovation, a computer system of a general-purpose type commonly called a workstation or a personal computer (PC) which is relatively small and low-priced with high added value and highly sophisticated, has been developed and marketed, making its way deep into colleges, research organizations, corporations and other offices as well as daily life in an ordinary home.
A computer system is typically driven by responding to a user's input command and provides an “interactive” processing environment by displaying a processing result on the display screen. Recently, a shift has been noted from the character-based user input environment, that is, “CUI (Character User Interface)” via conventional keyboard as represented by a DOS (Disk Operating System) shell screen to “GUI (Graphical User Interface)” realizing graphical base user input. Under the GUI environment, there is available a desktop on which the computer system is simulated as well as an infinite number of icons on the display screen.
On the desktop provided with GUI, all the resource objects including applications and files to be handled on the computer system are expressed as icons. Handling a mouse and the like and directly impressing displayed objects on the screen with respect to the icons symbolizing programs, data, folders, devices and other items (for example, clicking and drag and drop operation), the user is able to operate the computer intuitively and directly. Also, on the desktop are available buttons such as menu bar and tool box for instantaneously calling various functions, that is, computer processing, hence, the computer input format is becoming more and more intuitive and easy to understand.
Generally, a user input unit such as a mouse and a keyboard has hitherto been connected to a computer body via cable. When a cable is used to connect between one apparatus and another, a corresponding relationship between a main body and peripheral equipment to be united thereby is visually clear. Yet, this often stands in the way of operating by the user. Especially, when it comes to a device such as a mouse which is required of the user to move back and forth frequently on a work surface (for example, on the desk), there is inconvenience as in a case of a cable getting twisted around the user's arm or mouse.
Accordingly, there has recently been introduced peripheral equipment such as a wireless mouse, one after another, which is connected to the computer body without cable. For instance, a computer body is connected to peripheral equipment without cable by using infrared data communication such as IrDA (Infrared Data Association) and short-range wireless data techniques such as Bluetooth.
Although this type of wireless device is convenient with no cumbersome cable, the corresponding relationship between the computer main body and the peripheral equipment tends to be indistinct. For example, when a plurality of personal computers (PCs) are in use nearby, the computer body cannot tell which peripheral equipment it is connected to, so that there is a possibility of interference between the equipment. Further, there is a possibility of causing confusion such as which PC a mouse in the user's hand is connected to or which mouse to use when desiring to input a command on a specific PC.
For example, by means of hardware-like switches, the setting of software and the like, there are employed techniques such as changing over a communication channel between a computer main body and a mouse, assigning identification information (ID) to the peripheral equipment side such as a mouse so as to register in the computer body an ID of the equipment being connected thereto by which circumstances of generating interference between the computer main body and the peripheral equipment can be avoided. Nonetheless, a setting operation of that kind conducted according to the manual is cumbersome for the user, and a wireless connection to improve operability eventually leads to reducing usability in the end.
Although the applicable range of wireless communication is some few meters, in the general office environment, there can occur easily and frequently circumstances in which a plurality of computers are provided in a communication range of that extent or a plurality of mice exist within a communication range of one computer.
Further, when the user is alone operating a plurality of computers, if a single mouse can be used for a plurality of computers by simply switching over connections, much gain in convenience will be obtained. Moreover, the number of mice to be used can be saved, thus leading to cost curtailment and space savings.